Hospital payout for grieving son of Dunstable woman

Stewart Carr

A clinical negligence settlement has been awarded after claims that Luton & Dunstable Hospital failed to care for a 92-year-old Dunstable woman.

Barry Holland, 65, took legal action against the hospital after his mum Joan was permanently paralysed during her stay there.

Barry, of Plantation Road, Leighton Buzzard, said: “The way my mother was treated was terrible and it should never have happened.

“She didn’t deserve to be treated like that and I hope it never happens to anyone else.”

Barry’s mum, Joan Holland, had spent six weeks in hospital after being admitted in October 2011 with an infection.

Within just two days, Joan suffered a catastrophic spinal injury after falling from a commode, leaving her permanently paralysed.

She then endured five days of agony as nurses attempted to get her to walk, before the spinal injury was detected by an MRI scan.

Mrs Holland was later moved to a care home on December 12, 2011, where she developed horrific bedsores and a fractured upper arm after falling from her bed. She later moved to another care home, where she died on April 21 2012.

Her son added: “I just wanted someone at the hospital to hold their hands up and say sorry, but that hasn’t happened.

“It’s just so wrong and my wife Denise and I feel very angry and let down by the hospital.”